Residents of Ramat Beit Shemesh Gimmel 1 gathered on motzei Shabbos as seen in the accompanying video, mourning the demolition of the Baal Shemtov Shul by the Beit Shemesh Municipality last week.
As reported by YWN-Israel, the Beit Shemesh municipality last week executed a demolition order for the Heichal Baal Shemtov Shul, which is located in Ramat Beit Shemesh Gimmel 1, citing the shul was given an opportunity over the period of a number of months to arrange its status, but officials did not.
The city insists that it cannot and will not tolerate illegal buildings, and the shul’s gabbaim ignored all warning and requests, asking them to meet with city officials and address the shul’s status.
Mispallalim tell a different story, and they gathered on motzei Shabbos to mourn “the churban” which took place a day before we began observing the Nine Days, decrying the actions of the new city administration, headed by Mayor Dr. Aliza Bloch. They insist that the shul received permission from the previous mayor, Rabbi Moshe Abutbul, but Mayor Bloch and her staff prefer to ignore this.
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(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem/Photo + Video Credit: BS News)
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5 Responses
I could imagine both sides are not completely truthful about how the story goes but YIDDEN DO NOT DESTROY A SHUL!!
All the mispalelim had to do was make it legal. If Abutbol had given permission, why wasn’t it recorded as a legal building? Perhaps next time, shuls won’t be so arrogant and self-important to the point where they think they don’t have to follow the law. Because they are above it, just like Abutbol manipulated it to serve his agenda.
Just as chilul haShem can only be rectified by the death of the sinner, so too a shul that was built on a foundation of breaking rules meant for public good.
nebech a few loose screws
If they had approval from the prior administration, they could have simply provided a copy of the building permit and the matter would have been closed. According to this article and other media reports, they consistently failed to provide evidence of the “approval” and ignored multiple requests to remove the illegal structure. In response to RRR, it is possible the municipal laborers who handled the demolition were not yidden.